The world since COVID-19 has been turned upside down. The life as we once knew it will forever be altered. In light of all of these changes, a recent study conducted by Zety sought the opinion of the public about Millennials. They interviewed more than 1,000 people and asked them what they thought about Millennials.

According to the study, there is this notion that Millennials are to blame for the spread of the virus. However, there are many more complex scenarios behind the spread of the virus and it is too simple to blame this generation.

In the next section, we will go over some stats behind some myths and debunk some stereotypes around Millennials.

Compiling the opinions of Americans about Millennials

There is this idea that Millenials are supposedly less likely to get married compared to previous generations. As it turns out this is completely false. In the following infographic some fascinating facts are revealed based on the research:

As Goldman Sachs reports, this generation is pushing their marriage further down the line. Once upon a time, the average age for getting married was 23 years of age back in the 1970s. Millennials are ready to tie the knot by the time they reach 30.

Another of the many findings is 55 percent believe Millenials get divorced more often compared to other generations. This constitutes another falsehood since they take more time to ensure they have lifetime commitments.

There is one category Millennials get a lot of heat: housing. About 80 percent do not believe this generation will be moving out of their parents’ houses. Coincidentally, 77 percent said live in rental properties. Both of these statements are true.

Nevertheless, when it comes to housing Millennials inherited a financial crisis followed by a slow recovery. According to the Pew Research Center, this generation was hit hard by the Great Recession. Moreover, in the year 2018, it was calculated that 15 percent of Millennials (ages 25 to 37) were living in their parent’s homes.

Education achievements and the student loan reality

Unlike previous generations, Millennials have a lot of education under their belts. Approximately 39 percent of Millenials have a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 29 percent of Gen X when they had the same age. This finding is true.

Below is the infographic. In the study, participants said there are more women who have completed a bachelor’s degree than men among the Millennial crowd. This is also deemed true as supported by the research findings.

Where Millennials have had it the hardest is the cost of higher education. It is true they are more educated, but the cost to pay back student loans is much higher than in the past.

As indicated right in the bottom of the infographic above college costs increased substantially. For instance, a 4-year college degree now costs 2.5 times higher compared to Baby Boomers in 1964.

Millennials considered lazy and less productive

Word out on the street is that this group is considered “lazy.” Participants (50 percent) said they viewed Millennials as unproductive. Furthermore, 42 percent of Millennials consider they are working less than other generations.

The economic data says otherwise. Oliwia Wolkowicz said in her post the economy adapted alongside this generation.

“The economy has adapted along with the Millennial generation, primarily driven by advancements in technology and the massive shift towards a gig economy. In fact, it’s estimated that about 38% of gig workers are Millennials.”

The importance of a career is an important aspect for everyone on a personal and professional level. Millennials once again get a lot of spite, but once again we are wrong to assume. Boston College data compiled and analyzed revealed careers are extremely important to Millennials. They will above and beyond to do what is expected in the workplace for any employer.

Takeaways and methodology of the study

As it was indicated throughout this analysis some perceptions were debunked and proven false. When it came down to discussing the economic realities of Millennials we cannot forget the financial crisis that happened little more than a decade ago.

In this study, the collection of responses from Americans (1,013) was done through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The gender distribution, as reported in the study, was 59.3 percent females and 40.7 percent males.

Respondents were asked 23 questions, which the majority of them consisted of a yes or not option.